Rotary gas-engine.



- B, B. SMITH. ROTARY GAS ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 8, 1913.

I w I Q Y Patented Feb. 3, 1914.

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ROTARY GAS ENGINE.

APPLIOATION FILED JAN. s, 1913.

Patented Feb. 3, 1914.

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EAnNEs'r BERTRAN stntrii, 0F BUCKLIN, KANSAS.

sonar GasaaemE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 3, 1914.

Assamese filed January 2, 1912. Serial in. 746,839.

To an whom it may con-gem:

e it known that I, Eannnsr BERTRAN SMITl-l, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bucklin, in the county of Ford and State of Kansas, have invented new and useful Improvements in Rotary Gas-Engines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to rotary gas engines, the object in View being to provide a rotary type of internal combustion motor, embodying, in connection with a suitable casing, a rotor working therein and provided with radially movable wings, Wing operating blocks arranged at suitable points in the casing and forming also the fixed walls'of compression and expansion chambers, combined with a compression storage chamber, and means for delivering the compressed gas to said chamber, and again delivering said gas under compression from the storage chamber to the expansion chamber, all controlled by the rotor and the parts carried thereby. v,

A further object of the invention is to provide in connection with such an engine as that referred to, a novel form of governor, wherebysthe inflow of gas to the motor will be regulated by the compression, so that regularity in speed and torque of the rotor may be regulated, and uniform operation of the motor maintained.

With the above and other objectsin view, the invention consists in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claim hereunto appended.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section througha rotary gas engine, embodying the present invention. Fig. 2 is a substantially vertical diametrical section through the same. Fig. 3 is an inside elevation of a portion of one of the side walls or heads of the casing, showing the form of the compressed gas inlet port. Fig. 4 is a side elevation of a portion of the rotor, showing one of the inlet ports therein.

The invention contemplated in this invention comprises essentially an outer substantially cylindrical and stationary casing 1 provided with the oppositely arranged side walls or heads 2 and 3 provided centrally "with bearing openings 4, through which passes a rotary shaft 5 having fixedly mounted thereon a cylindrical rotor 6 which revolves within the casing 1.

The rotor 6 is provided with a series of substantially radial pockets 7, in which is arranged a corresponding number of radlally movable piston wings 8 normally pressed outwardly by means of springs 9 arranged in the spaces behind said wings, so that the outer extremities of said wings are caused to travel in contact with the inner wall of the casing 1, as clearly shown in Fig. 1. I

At diametrically opposite points within the casing, and preferably at the top and bottom thereof, are blocks 10 and 11. These blocks are fixed within the casing, the outer faces thereof conforming to and fitting in close contact with the inner wall of the casing 1, while the inner faces of said blocks are concentrically milled, and bear, at 12, against the periphery of the rotor. To prevent the. passage of gas between the rotor and the blocks, the blocks are shown as provided with packing strips 13 which bear against the periphery of the rotor. Each of the blocks 10 and 11 is also provided with inclined faces 141, against which the wings 8 ride, so that when they come into contact with said inclined faces, the piston wings are forced inwardly against the expansion of the springs 9. At their opposite ends, the blocks 10 and 11 are provided with other inclined faces 15 which permit the wings to again move outwardly, until they rest and work in contact with thecasing 1, all of which will be readily seen in Fig. 1.

The block 10 is provided with a compression port 16 leading therethrough from the face 14 and extending also through the easing 1 and terminating in a nozzle 17 which projects into a compression storage chamber 18 at the outside of the casing 1, the nozzle 17 being controlled by an outwardly moving check valve 19 which allows the compressed gas to pass into the chamber 18 but prevents the return of the same into the passage 16. The blocks 10 and 11 divide the space be tween the rotor-6 and casing 1 into a compression chamber 20 and an expansion chamber 21, and it will be noted that the end walls of said chambers are formed by the blocks 10 and 11.

By reference to Fig. 2, it will be seen that from one side of the storage chamber 18, a

by-pass 22 in the form of a pipe leads in- 310 wardly through the head or sidewall 3 of the casing, where it terminatesin an. enlarged orifice 23 extending concentrically of the casing and rotor just within the plane of the outer periphery of the .rotor, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1. This rotor is provided in rear of each wing 8 with an inlet port 2 1 which comes into registry with the orifice 23, and during-the rotation of the rotor remains in communication with the by-pass 22 long enough to admit a full charge of compressed gas into the compression chamber 21 between the fixed wall 15 at one end of said chamber and the adjacent piston wing 8, which is traveling away from said fixed wall. When the wing 8 has reached a predetermined point, the charge of compressed gas so admitted to the expansion chamber between the parts referred to is ignited by a spark plug 25, or-other suitable igniter, thereby exploding and expanding the gas and driving the said piston wing in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 1. The block 11 is provided with an exhaust port 26 leading from the face 14 thereof through the block and outwardly through the easing 1.

27 designates the :,prin1ary intake port which leads into the compression chamber 20, and which has in communication therewith a I carburcter 28, to the butterfly stem of which is attached a governor rod 29 leading upwardly into an extension 30 of the compres sion storage chamber 18, where said rod is connected to a valve 31 influenced by the pressure in the chamber18, in such manner that when the pressure becomes greater than the predetermined degree, the valve 31 will be pressed downwardly, so as to operate on the rod 29 and partially throttle the carbureter, so as to diminish the flow of explosive mixture delivered therefrom to the engine.

In order to prevent the passage of gas between the side walls ofthe rotor and the heads 2 and 3 of the engine, the rotor is provided at opposite sides with projecting'concentric packing rings 32 which are received in grooves 33 formed in the inner faces of the walls 2 and 3 of the casing. Each of the wings 8 is also shown as provided at its outer edge with a spring pressed packing strip 34, and with other spring pressed packinv strips 35 at the opposite sides thereofi'said strips being for the purpose of maintaining close contact between the wings and the casing to prevent the passage of gas past the same.

The operation of the engine is as follows: The gas is admitted through the intake 27 into the compression chamber 20, around which it is swept by the following wing, compressed and forced through the passage 16 into the compression storage chamber 18 which has a much smaller capacity than that of the compression chamber 20. The gas is thus trapped under compression by the check valve 19 in the chamber 18, where it remains until the next port 241 of the rotor registers with the concentrically enlarged inner end or orifice 23 of the by-pass 22. Thereupon the compressed gas flows quickly from the chamber 18 into the expansion chamber 21 between the fixed wall 15 of the upper block and the adjacent and receiving wing 8. WVhen the win 8 has proceeded a sufficient distance from the wall 15 to admit the full charge of compressed gas from the chamber 18, the ports 23 and 24 pass out of registry with each other, thereby cutting off the by-pass 22, and immediately thereafter the gas isignited. The exhaust gas is forced along the expansion chamber 21 by the next following wing 8, and is conducted through the exhaust port 26 in the bottom block 11.

It will be observed from the foregoing that a perfectly fresh charge of compressed gas is admitted behind each wing of the rotor, and the exhaust or burnt gasesare thoroughly scavenged from the expansion chamber 21, so that there can be no admixture of the fresh and burnt gases, thereby adding materially to the efficiency and power of the engine.

\Vhat is claimed is:

In a rotary gas engine, a cylindrical casing, a rotor therein, radial outwardly spring pressed wings carried by the rotor and working in contact with the casing, diametrically opposite blocks in the casing having inclined faces which control the inward and outward movements of the wings and also form fixed walls of-the expansion and compression chambers, one of said blocks being provided with a compression port and the other with an exhaust port, a compression storage chamber in receiving communication with said-compression port, a bypass leading from said storage chamber to the expansion chamber, means controlled by the rotor for opening up and cutting off communication between the storage and expansion chambers, a valve controlling the communication between the carbureter and compression chamber and operated by pressure operated means in the-storage chamber, and a connection between said pressure operated valve and carbureter, said valve acting as a governor for controlling the admission of gas from the carburetor to the engine.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

EARN'ECT BERTRAN SMITH.

lVitnesses 4 R. P. CRAVENS, Gnoncn F. BOYNE. 

